36.04A.020 Definitions.

For purposes of this chapter the following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future, words in the plural number include the singular number, and words in the singular number include the plural number. Words not defined shall be given their common and ordinary meaning. The word “shall” is always mandatory and not merely directory.

“Access” means the availability for noncommercial use by various agencies, institutions, organizations, groups and individuals in the community, including the county and its designees, of the cable system to acquire, create, receive and distribute video, cable service and signals as permitted under applicable law, including, but not limited to:

(a)    “Public access” which means access where organizations, groups or individual members of the general public, on a nondiscriminatory basis, are the primary users;

(b)    “Educational access” which means access where schools are the primary users of programming and services;

(c)    “Governmental access” which means access where governmental institutions or their designees are the primary users of programming and services; and

(d)    “PEG access” means public access, educational access, and governmental access, collectively.

“Affiliate” when used in connection with a grantee means any corporation, person or entity who owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with, the grantee.

“Applicant” means a person who submits a proposal to provide cable service within the county.

“Basic service” means any service tier which includes the retransmission of local television broadcast signals and public, educational and governmental access channels, or as such service tier may be further defined by federal law.

“Board” shall mean the Clark County board of commissioners.

“Cable Acts” means the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, as amended by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 and any amendments thereto, including those contained in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and any future cable television legislation.

“Cable operator” means any person or group of persons, including a grantee:

(a)    Who provides cable service over a cable system and directly or through one or more affiliates owns a significant interest in such a cable system; or

(b)    Who otherwise controls or is responsible for, through any arrangement, the management and operation of such a cable system.

“Cable service” means the one-way transmission to subscribers of video programming or other programming service, and subscriber interaction, if any, which is required for the selection or use of such video programming or other programming service.

“Cable system” means a facility, consisting of a set of closed transmission paths and associated signal generation, reception and control equipment, that is designed to provide cable service which includes video programming and which is provided to multiple subscribers within a community, but such term does not include:

(a)    A facility that serves only to retransmit the television signals of one or more television broadcast stations;

(b)    A facility that serves subscribers without using any public right-of-way;

(c)    A facility of common carrier which is subject, in whole or in part, to the provisions of Title II of the Federal Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), except that such facility shall be considered a cable system (other than for purposes of Section 621(c)(47 U.S.C. 541(c)) to the extent such facility is used in the transmission of video programming directly to subscribers, unless the extent of such use is solely to provide interactive on-demand services;

(d)    An open video system that complies with federal statutes; or

(e)    Any facilities of any electric utility used solely for operating its electric utility systems.

“Channel” means a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum which is used in a cable system and is capable of delivering a television channel, as television channel is defined by the FCC in other applicable regulations.

“City” means the city of Vancouver, Washington.

“Council” means the Vancouver city council.

“County” generally means the county of Clark, Washington; and as to any regulatory provision of this chapter means the unincorporated area of Clark County, Washington.

“Designated access provider” means the entity or entities designated by the county to manage or co-manage public, educational or governmental use channels and facilities. The county may be a designated access provider.

“FCC” means the Federal Communications Commission.

“Franchise” means a nonexclusive and revocable authorization or renewal thereof for the construction or operation of a cable system such as is granted pursuant to this chapter, whether such authorization is designated as a franchise, license, resolution, contract, certificate, agreement or otherwise.

“Grantee” means a cable operator who is granted a franchise to operate a cable system within the county, or its successor, transferee or assignee duly authorized to provide cable service in the county.

“Gross revenues” means all amounts accrued by a grantee, in whatever form and from all sources, from the operation of a grantee’s cable system to provide cable service within the franchise area. “Gross revenues” shall include, without limitation, all amounts for all cable services, including, but not limited to, basic, expanded basic, premium, and pay-per-view services, advertising sales and installation fees and charges. “Gross revenues” shall also include any revenue received by any affiliate of a grantee where such revenue in the ordinary course of business has been paid or should have been paid to grantee from the operation of its cable system to provide cable service within the franchise area. By way of illustration and not limitation, this definition would include revenue derived from the sale of cable system advertising time by an affiliate of grantee. “Gross revenues” shall not include bad debt, sales taxes or other taxes which are collected by grantee on behalf of, and for payment to, the local, state or federal government.

“Institutional network” or “I-NET” means the institutional network connecting public facilities and organizations within a franchise area as described in a franchise agreement.

“Interconnect” means the provision by a grantee of technical, engineering, physical, and all other necessary components to maintain a physical linking of a grantee’s cable system and cable service or any designated channel or signal pathway thereof with neighboring cable systems, so that cable service of technically adequate quality may be sent to and received from other systems.

“Leased access channel” means any channel commercially available for programming for a fee or charge by a grantee to members of the general public.

“Person” means any individual, natural person, sole proprietorship, partnership, association or corporation or any other form of entity or organization.

“School” means any accredited educational institution, public or private, including, but not limited to, primary and secondary schools, and colleges and universities.

“Street” means each of the following which have been dedicated to the public and maintained under public authority or by others and located within a franchise area: streets, roadways, highways, avenues, lanes, alleys, sidewalks, easements, rights-of-way and similar public property and areas.

“Subscriber” means any person or business who or which elects to subscribe to, for any purpose, cable services provided by a grantee by means of or in connection with the cable system and whose premises are physically wired and lawfully activated to receive cable services from a grantee’s cable system:

(a)    “Commercial subscriber” which means any subscriber other than residential subscriber;

(b)    “Residential subscriber” which means any person who receives cable service delivered to single or multiple dwelling units, excluding multiple dwelling units billed on a bulk-billing basis.

“Vancouver/Clark telecommunications commission” or “commission” means the advisory and regulatory authority as created by and described in this chapter.

“Vancouver/Clark County cable television director” or “director” means the county manager or his or her designate or such person designated by interlocal agreement by the city of Vancouver, Clark County and other signatory jurisdictions within Clark County to administer this chapter and provide support to the commission. (Sec. 2 of Ord. 1998-12-21; amended by Sec. 1 of Ord. 2005-07-21a)